joy; and may we so pass in thy hands alone our life through the changing and breath are, and thine scenes of the present are all our ways. world, that we may be prepared for the pure and unmixed happiness of thy glorious presence for evermore. Mercifully hear and accept us, O God, through thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. SATURDAY EVENING. O THOU who alone art from everlasting, without beginning of days, or end of years; we rejoice that amid the continual chanof this our uncertain ges life, we can look to thee, O God, who endurest for ever. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but thou remainest, and wilt never fail those who trust in thee, nor hide thy face from those who love thee. Preserver of men, at the close of another day and week, we would render unto thee our sincere and humble thanks for all the mercies of thy providence, by which our lives have been supported and blest. We acknowledge with joy that it is thou alone who preservest us, and makest us to dwell in safety; for Forgive, we beseech thee, the transgressions of the past day, the past week, and of all past time. Whatever has been amiss. in our conduct, or irregular in our dispositions, whatever we have done which we ought not to have done, or omitted which we ought to have performed, do thou, in thy great mercy, forgive. Knowing our frailty and danger from the past, may we in future take more careful heed to our steps, and walk more uprightly before thee. Quicken our consciences, and sanctify our hearts. Make us more pure, humble, and devout, more benevolent and useful; and so teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Hitherto thou hast helped and sustained us. Truly our hope is in thee, and under the shadow of thy wings will we put our trust. Grant us refreshment this night by sleep; and may we arise in thy favour in the morning, and be fitted for the sacred duties of the day. O thou who givest power to the faint, and to those who have no might increasest strength, give unto us strength to do and to bear thy whole will and pleasure. In thine everlasting arms support us; by thy mighty power defend us; let thy grace be sufficient for us, and thy goodness and mercy follow people, who dost never slumber nor sleep; the ever blessed God, who art able to do for us more exceedingly than we can ask or think; the Father almighty; the King eternal, immortal, and invisible; unto thee be all honour and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. OR EVENING. us all our days. We dedi- A PRAYER FOR MORNING cate ourselves to thee as our God and guide through life, our support and comfort in death, and after death our everlasting portion and felicity. When the present succession of days and nights shall cease, graciously receive us to that state where we shall serve thee without intermission and without weariness, through the day of eternity. We commend to thee our relatives and friends. We ask thy compassion for the distressed,thy mer cy Holy Watchman of thy O GOD, the Creator, Preserver and Benefactor of men, we approach thee in an humble sense of our dependence upon thee, and a deep conviction of our obligations to thee, who, both by day and by night, dost constantly sustain and defend us, and delight to do us good. May we regard thee as the chief good, and the knowledge and love of thee as the greatest of blessings. May we earnestly desire, and diligently seek, and happily find thee. Thou art our Maker. Root out from within us, we pray thee, all that is defiling and corrupting to our nature, and implant in us all holy dispositions and principles; that our souls may retain thine image, and that we benevolence which filled may appear in thy likeness, as thou didst create us. Thou art our Ruler and Governor. Reign in our hearts. Subdue and expel all rebellious passions; beat down the spirit of pride and haughtiness; turn away from us vanity and self-deceit; preserve us us from envy, covetousness, wrath, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word; and make us humble, and gentle, and kind, and ready at all times to do thy will and submit to thy righteous pleasure. Thou art our merciful and indulgent Father. O grant to thy children those best of gifts, a firm and right faith, a steadfast and well grounded hope, and a never failing charity. Thou art the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Give us grace to receive him as our Saviour, and learn of him as our teacher, and follow him as our guide and example, and love him as the friend who died for us; that so we may be numbered among his true disciples, and become fellow heirs with him in thy heavenly kingdom. Help Help us to remember, and to imitate the his soul. May we consider mankind as our brethren, and be heartily disposed to relieve their miseries; to supply their wants; to comfort their sorrows; to redress their wrongs; to pardon those who have offended us; to love those who hate us; to do good unto all. May we walk within our houses with perfect hearts. May we study to advance each other's happiness, and to quicken each other's piety. May every good and holy disposition be daily improving in our breasts, until we become fit for that happy kingdom where love and peace and joy for ever reign. Hear us in thy Son's name, for whom we bless thee, and through whom we ascribe unto thee all honour and glory for ever. Amen. ANOTHER. O GOD, our heavenly Father, we beseech thee to incline thine ear unto thy children, and favourably hear our prayer. We pray that thou wouldst guide and lead us by thy providence, and comfort us by thy mercy, and protect us by thine almighty power. We submit to thee all our thoughts, words, actions and sufferings; and we desire to have thee always in our minds, to do all our works in thy name, and in thy strength to bear all calamity with patience. Give us grace that we may be attentive to our spiritual concerns, temperate in our enjoyments, vigilant in our conduct, and steadfast and immoveable in all good purposes. Dispose our hearts to admire and praise thy holiness; to hate all evil works; to love our neighbour, and to renounce the vanities of the world. Enable us to conduct ourselves with prudence in all transactions, and show courage in danger, fortitude in trial, submissiveness in adversity, and in prosperity an humble mind. Let thy grace illuminate our understandings, direct our wills, sanctify our bodies, and bless and save our souls. Make us diligent in curbing all irregular affections; zealous in imploring thy grace; careful in keeping thy commadments, and constant in working out our salvation. Finally, O God, make us sensible how little is the world, how great thy heavens, how short time, and how long a blessed eternity. O that we may well prepare ourselves for death; that we may flee from the wrath to come, and obtain of thee everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. PRAYER FOR A BEREAVED FAMILY. O THOU eternal Lord our God, the Lord of life and death, who givest and who takest away, enable us all to say, with sincere and humble resignation, Thy name be blessed, and thy will be done. In all our troubles and adversities, whensoever they oppress us, we would come to thee, O Father, and put our whole trust and confidence in thee, and lay down the burthen of our sorrows before thee, and look to thee alone for consolation and help; for we know that thou art a God of mercy and compassion, and that though clouds and darkness are round about thee, righteousness and judgment are the foundations of thy throne. We desire to submit with all humility and patience to the recent afflictive dispensation of thy righteous providence. Be pleased to sanctify it to thy servants the members of this family. Teach us to turn this sorrow to our eternal good; and let the sense of our loss make us cleave more steadfastly to thee. Let no repining thoughts rise in our hearts, but help us to place our affections more strongly on those immoveable things which are above, and to resign unto thee all our thoughts and desires. By this chastisement may we be purified from sin, quickened in duty, mortified to the world, and raised above it. Send thy holy Spirit to abide with and comfort our hearts, and enable us to endure tribulation as becometh disciples of thy Son Jesus Christ. Bind more closely together the surviving members of this family. Increase in us a tender and faithful affection. May we learn how to promote each other's happiness, and mitigate the sorrows which have befallen, or yet await Teach us to feel the us. vanity of earthly things, to delight in thy word, to study thy will, to observe thy law, and to work out our own salvation; that when we go the way of all the earth, we may be comforted by thy presence, and admitted to that heavenly state where all tears shall be wiped from our eyes, and there shall be no more decay, nor sickness, nor death; which we ask in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life, through whom to thee be rendered everlasting praises. Amen. PRAYER FOR THE CHIL DREN OF A FAMILY. ALMIGHTY God, by whose gracious providence the successive generations of mankind are called into being, we implore thy fatherly blessing on the children of this family. To thy protection and guidance, to thy direction and disposal we humbly and earnestly recommend them. May they remember their Creator in the days of their youth. Impress on their tender minds that reverence of thee which is the beginning of wisdom; and give them |